[sub]

Originally Posted by Quert

I'm from Wisconsin! I moved south after the horrible 2010 Winter, I believe, when we had those minus 50 windchills. I've been in the south since 2011 and it's worth the move, trust me.. except you need to be prepared to miss things that Wisconsin offers like cheese curds and Friday night fish frys... oh, and no beer on Sunday.


I've only lived in Arkansas since November of 2015, but from your list I would say that you may want to pass on Arkansas.


* approximate population of around 10,000 or less (absolutely no more than 15,000) -- Easy on this part, lots of small towns in Arkansas. Mountain Home is nice and it's in the Ozark mountains - 13k population if I remember correctly, but jobs are low paying.

* mild winters with little to no snow -- Mild Winters, but yet they're unusual. You can have snow and ice one day, and the next day it's 60 and sunny. We get snow, but do prepare for ice. Don't think you're a big shot because of the Wisconsin winters - snow may shut down schools (if they see a flake), but ice is no joke here.


* summers that aren't sweltering (low 90's are ok) -- Uhhh... yeah. Mid to upper 90s, sometimes 100+ in Summer. I'm not sure what it's like over near Fayetteville in Summer, but I'm guessing it's most likely the same.


* no SEVERE storms -- We get them every year.. Tornado sirens and all.


* LGBT friendly -- Honestly, and I hate to even say this, but LGBT in the south would be extremely difficult unless you're in a big city.



* plenty of jobs for DSP's -- Unsure. If there are jobs, they may pay less than average.



* no breed specific bans (we have a pit bull mix) -- I know a few places in Arkansas with pit bull bans, Gassville is one of them.

Interesting assessment.
Disagree on Mountain Home. It's just too tacky and trashed out to be nice in my opinion (yes opinion is all that statement is and so is all that follows. Arkansas forum regulars can relax). The whole area is one poorly zoned and unregulated town after another.
People move to that area for those types of property freedoms and very low cost of living, I respect that, but the scenery around there is almost completely shot as a result. Not my thing.
Many towns in Arkansas similar in size are also similar in execution.

Generally agree with your take on the weather in Arkansas. Probably not a good fit for the OP, but really, people can adapt if they want to.
Even in Wisconsin.
Southern California is still there for those who have a small fortune laying around, and don't want to have to deal with anything too extreme.

The south has been experiencing the same cultural changes as the rest of the country so I kinda have to disagree on the lgbt thing.
While some areas may be more hostile than others, I don't think a lot of small towns are drastically different than big cities in terms of acceptance. I also don't think the south is drastically different than other areas of the country in that regard. Especially the midwest.

Unless a person is looking at Little Rock or NWA, the job seeker will need to be looking at something very specific and be fully aware of wages and if those will line up with COL.

Breed bans are fairly common though I could see how the level of enforcement might depend on how much attention you or your dog brings to yourselves, and how concerned a municipality is towards such regulations. Some will be more strict than others.

For what it's worth responding to a different post, Branson itself seems to not be racist at all.
Every time I've been, I've seen people of literally every background imaginable there.